
Class 


?^15^ ■ 


Book 


J)l^?.-. 




I5^(i= 



r 



POEMS 



FOR 



HEFORMERS 



BT 



WILLIAM DENTON. 



PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY 

WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH M. F. DENTON. 

DAYTON, 0. 

1856. 






A 



To THE Friends of Human Progress, — 

Who are la- 
boring to remove the evils that afflict Humanity, and 
speed the time when men shall form one loving fam- 
ily the wide world over, these lines are dedicated by 
their friend and fellow-laborer, 

William Denton. 



Contents. 



I May iSToT be a Poet 7 

The Feeeman's Eesolution 9 

Teuth and Eeeor 10 

To THE Teue Eefoemer 11 

The Feeeman's Keply 12 

No 13 

Labor , . 13 

The Speino 14 

Who aee the Thieves ? 16 

The Time has Come . . . ' 17 

The Coming Day 18 

Kevolution 20 

What I once Thought 21 

The Makees and Vendees of Intoxicating 

Drink 22 

The Battle of Feeedom 24 

The Feeeman's Hymn . , 25 

What is Keligion? 26 

What Makes a Man? 28 

We'll Labor in Love for Humanity's Sake 30 

Our Father Above 31 

Man, Woman and Priest 32 

What I Ask For 35 

The Advent of Freedom 36 

Do Eight 40 

Dedicated to Grumblers 42 

The Eeal and the Ideal 44 

Addition to the "Good Time Coming" . 45 

Thoughts 45 

Thi: Fl'ture Day 50 



Tl 



Liberty's Star '51 

Appeal to America . - 52 

The Anthem of the Free 53 

On being asked to take the Oath of Alle- 
giance 54 

•Slavery 55 

Wreck of Humanity 56 

The True light 57 

The Soul's Past and Present 62 

Comfort for the Mourner 64 

My Lamb 65 

A Psalm of the Present 67 

My Fortune 69 

The Song of beauty 71 

Beauty's Dwelling Place 73 

The Seasons 75 

Future Life 79 

Hope for All SO 

A Hymn ^^ 

A Dream ' . . 82 

To THE Sun ^5 

William and Mary 86 

The Maiden's Curse 88 

Answer to the "Lone Starry Hour" ... 90 

To E. M. F 91 

To Hannah C. L 92 

Lines to Lizzy 93 

Labor 94 

Winter 95 

The Spring Day 96 

Cazan and the Collier • 97 

Sunday Sabbath 101 



POEMS FOR 



REFORMERS 



I MAY NOT BE A POET. \ 

I may not be a poet, but ray heart beats to the tune, ^ 

The mocking birds are warbling in this merry month of June; 
My soul joins in the chorus, as they swell their artless lay; 
I sit and dream of heaven, on this sunny, Summer day. 

I may not be a poet, but I often stand and gaze, 

With joy-tears in my eyes, upon the sun's departing rays, 

When golden beams are streaming through the cloudlets in 

the West, 
And Sol gives each a glory-kiss, before he goes to rest. 



I may not be a poet, but I love the forest tree ; 

Each wood-king is a brother, happy, natural and free ; 

I worship as a Druid, for God dwells within this place, 

In wand'ring through the forest, I have seen him face to face. 

I may not be a poet, but I love night's starry eyes, 
Their glory, like a magnet, draws my spirit to the skies; 
I march along the milky way, amid the shining throng, 
And list with rapture as I go, to their melodious song. 

I may not be a poet, but the flowers talk to me; 

The leaflets whisper softly, as I sit beneath the tree; 

To me the crickets chirp their loves, no secrets from me hid; 

I lie upon the velvet sward, and learn what "Katy did". 

I may not be a poet, but I love the true and right, 

And welcome Freedom's dawning, as the eagle greets the 

light; 
Roll on, bright orb of Liberty, and in thy ardent ray 
May ev'ry fetter mankind wears, melt speedily away. 



9 
THE FRKKMAN'S IlESO T. L- TT O N 

I will not bow to a titled knave, 
Nor crouch to a lordly priest; 

A martyr's torments I'd rather brave, 
Than be of my manhood fleeced. 

I'll bend my knee to no golden god, 

I'll worship no calf in Dan; 
Erect and free I'll stand on the sod. 

And act as becomes a man. 

I'll pin my faith to no bigot's sleeve, 
I'll swallow no griping creed; 

I'll ask my Reason what to believe, 
And ever her answer heed. 

I'll hide no truth in a coward heart, 
The world would be blest to know; 

My noblest thought without fear impart, 
Its only reward a blow. 

Your curses hurl, but the noble mind 
Can smile at your priestly ban; 

Aye, forge your fetters! ye cannot bind 
The spirit of God's free man. 

I will be true to m}^ heav'n born self; 

Nor league with the world to lie; 
The rich may boast of their hoarded pelfj 

In poverty, happier I. 



lu 



lil love the true, I ^vill do the right, 
Subject but to reason's sway, 

Let all do so, and the world's dark night 
AY ill melt into rosy day. 



TRUTH AND ERROR. 

Not an errorj firm as Andes, 

Deep as lie her granite roots, 
High, as soars the bird of thunder, 

Wide, as Autumn sheds her fruits, 
But can feel the heave of Progress, 

Like an earth-quake, at its core; 
But can hear the tempest roaring, 

That shall sweep it from the shore. 
Let it spread, as spreads the Banyan, 

Thousand-trunked o'er hill and dell, 
Truth 's an axe, whose edge of lightning 
Shall the giant Upas fell. 



11 

TO THE TKUK liEKOKMliil. 

List to thy thought, as its gentle voice greets thee, 
And sternly unshrinking, obey its behest; 

Heed not the clamor of Custom that meets thee, 
Still doing thy duty, leave Heaven the rest. 

Cherish thy thought, His a sapling supernal, 
Transplanted from heaven, to flourish below; 

Food fit for gods, it will jneld thee eternal; 
Neglected, its fruit will be sorrow and woe. 

Live to thy thought, be the God-given plan 
Thy guide, as the soul's vralls successively rise; 

Patiently build, thou shall see, brother man, 
A temple of beauty ascend to the skies. 

Trust in thy thought, 'tis an anchor will hold thee 
From drifting when storms of adversity blow; 

A compass, when thick clouds of darkness enfold thee, 
Still guiding thy bark o'er the billows of woe. 

Utter thy thought, see thou lock not the coffer; 

Thus meanly and miserly hiding it there; 
■Out with it boldly, not fearing the scoffer. 

As bright as the sun, and as free as the air. 

Follow thy thought, it will lead to the mountain; 

Thy soul shall then bask where the flowers bloom ever. 
Drink blessed draughts at felicity's fountain, 

Ilejoicing with friends that no Future shall sever. 



THE FRKE MAN'S H E P I. Yv 

They say I must be silent; that all truth should not be said; 
Q'hat if the soul be manly, then the body wants for bread; 
I cannnot be respected bj^ the noble or the great, 
But sorrow, grief and anguish must forever be my fate. 

They bid me still the spirit-voice, clear, manly, noble, free; 
And chain within the mind's deep cells the angel God sent me. 
Go, bid the ocean cease to heave; the rivers cease to flow; 
Bid smiling Spring retrace her steps, and flow'rcts cease to blow. 

Go, bid the bright stars shut their eyes, send back the sunbeam 

flown, 
And steal the azure from the skies that circle round its throne. 
Go, drive the wild winds to their home, the lightning to its nest; 
Ye cannot quench the soul's deep fires, that burn within the 

breast. 

No, man was made for freedom, as the stars were made to shine; 
His boldest thought be spoken — 'tis his heritage divine; 
For while the air remaineth to reverberate a sound, 
The voice of God shall never, by the voice of man, be bound. 



13 

When Vice, with her painted face, tempts thee to stray, 
Bewitchingly smihng tliy scruples away; 
When conscience but whispers, and passion says, go; 
Let nianliood awake and with firmness say No. 

When Mammon is god, and all offer their vow, 
And Interest whispers to every soul, bow; 
When all men do wrong, and ask thee to do so, 
In firmness speak out with a valiant Ko. 

When base men for lucre their brethren enslave. 
And fortune and fame seem to wait on the knave; 
When by them invited all love to forego, 
Make false hearts recoil by the ring of thy Xo, 



LABOR. 

'Tis the two-edged sword of sharpness; 
'Tis the boots of seven-league stride; 
'Tis the stone that turns our pewter 
Into gold, bright, pure and tried. 
'Tis the hymn all Nature's singing; 
'Tia^the prayer God loves to hear, 
lie who labors, finds an answer 
To his supplications near. 



14 



T HE S P K I N a . 



"She's coming from the sunny South,young daughter of the year, 
To banish ev'ry cloud of grief, and dry each rolling tear; 
The bloom of youth is on her cheek, and "laughter lights 

her eye"; 
Her presence makes the frost depart, and hoary Winter fly. 

She visits ev'ry wooden hut upon the A\'estern wild, 
She gladdens ev'ry parent's heart, and kisses ev'r}^ child, 
Tliey scent her breath among the trees, they hear her pleas- 
ant voice, 
And as they gather up her gift?, their little hearts rejoice. 

She looks upon the care-worn man, pale statue of distress, 
That look is med'cine to his soul, to heal him and to bless; 
Long years of sorrow, doubt and care, grow dim in her bright 

beam, 
And as a vision of the night, life's darkest shadows seem; 

The tide of jo)^ flows back once more, he flings his griefs away, 
And, with a child-like soul, he joins his little ones at play. 
She smiles upon the mount<ain rills, they smile to her again, 
Their music rings upon the air, in wood and rocky glen. 



Tlie very Imds are )»ig with joy, the rain-drops dance witli glee, 
And ev'ry bending twig keeps time witii tnnefnl liarmon}^ 
She starts the life-blood in the veins of many a branching vine, 
Whose tendrils clasp the forest boughs, as sister's arms en- 
twine. 

She's weaving garlands for the grove, and carpets for the lea, 
How noiseless is her workmanship, though beautiful to see ! 
She's limning forms of l)eauty ^^^th a pencil made of flow'rs, 
And singing joyous anthems through the sun-begilded hours. 

She's walking in the verdant wood, she's dancing down the lea, 
She's coming with a blessing too, for all the world and me. 
The brooks have found their voices, and the birds a merry song, 
The dead world is alive again, the old world blithe and young. 

A new edition Nature prints of her immortal Ijook, 

So beautiful, the very dead are rising up to look; 

Ten thousand leaves, embellished all, and gilt with sunshine 

bright; 
The Maker's name on ev'ry page inscribed in living light. 



1(5 
W HO A R K T H K T H T E V K S ? 

What stores of wealth in unfoiind mines, 

The rich old earth contains; 
Of iron, silver, lead and gold, 

What piles within her veins ! 

While still with bounteous harvests swell. 

Our mother's undrawn breast, 
Of sweetest fruit, of corn and wine. 

To make each poor man blest. 

What rocks to make his palace walls ! 

What cedars for its beams ! 
Our paupers might as wealthy be. 

As misers in their dreams. 

What woods uncut! what fields unploughed ! 

The poor man is God's heir; 

Who steals his proud inheritance? 

Who is the thief, and where? 

Who locks up Nature's boundless wealth? 

Who bolts and bars the door? 
Curses upon his selfish soul, 

Now and forevermore ! 



17 . 

THE TIME HAS CO ISI E 

The time has come to stand erect 
In noble, manly self-respect; 
To see the sky above our head, 
To feel the ground beneath our tread 
Unled by priests, unruled by knaves; 
No longer cringing, abject slaves. 

The time has com.e to break the yoke. 
Whatever cost the needed stroke; 
To set the toiling bondman free, 
Whatever price his liberty; 
Better a few should die, than all 
Be held in worse than deadly thrall. 

The time has come for men to find 
Their statute-book within the mind; 
To read its laws, and cease to pore 
The musty tomes of ages o'er; 
Truth's golden rays its page illume, 
Her fires your legal scrolls consume. 

The time has come to preach the soul; 
No meagre shred, the manly whole. 
Let agitation come, who fears? 
We need a flood, the filth of years 
Has gathered round us. Roll then on; 
What cannot stand, had best be gone. 



IS 

THK COMINO DAY. 

See, the twilight on the hills! 
See, the leaping mountain rills'. — 
Comes the wish'd-for, long'd-for day, 
Rolling on its sunny way. 

The world's long night is fleeing now, 
For young day tints the mountain brow, 
And error's icy chains give way, 
Before his warm and genial ray. 
Hark! swelling on the morning breeze, 
What soul-entrancing symphonies! 
Bright angels, from the realms away, 
Are heralding the Coming Day. 
Wake, drowsy earth, from sleep arise, — 
Light waits to bless uplifted eyes, — 
Thy mists must vanish, darkness fly, 
For Truth illumes the Eastern sky; 
And lovers of the dusky night, 
May hide their heads, for lo ! 'tis light ! 

Soldiers, lay down sword and gun, 
For the work of war is done; 
Men like fiends shall act no more, 
Earth be cleansed from human gore. 
Strangers, foes, forever gone, 
Love shall make all nations one; 
Men shall neither fight nor slay, 
In the peaceful, Coming Day. 



1» 



Drunkards, cast away the bowl. 
Rise, dig up the buried soul; 
Heaven gave you wings, then why, 
Grov'ling on the ground, thus lie? 
Water be your drink alone; 
True men have no other known; 
Water, pure as heaven's bright ray, 
Emblem of the Coming Day. 

Bondmen, lift your drooping eyes, 
Read your charter in the skies ! 
Ye are men, your birthright claim, 
Prove ye're worthy of the name ! 
Freedom rises from her grave, 
Claims as hers each down-cast slave; 
Chains and fetters melt away 
In the joyous Coming Day. 

By faith, we see the shades of night 
Disperse before the morning light; 
By hope, we see the day arise 
And gild his pathway on the skies; 
We hear that soul-enchanting strain, 
And joy bounds through each throbbing Tein; 
We watch and work, we wait and pray, 
To bring the joyous Coming Day. 



20 



REVOLUTION. 

Truth is shining, earth's awaking; 
Freedom rising, chains are breaking; 
Tyrants on their thrones are quaking, 

For their reign is nearly done. 
Books are coming, error leaving; 
Pen and press their past retrieving, 
Swiftly fly their shuttles weaving 

All the nations into one. 

Priests and creeds are retroceding, 
Men the guide within are heeding; 
Ev'ry one his garden weeding, 

Headlong, bigotry is hurled. 
Love upspringing, hate is dying; 
Men rejoicing, knaves are sighing; 
Deadly curses fast are flying 

From a renovated world. 



21 
AVITAT I ONCE THOUOHT. 

I once thought that Heaven was made for the few, 
That God was as vengeful as Moses the Jew, 
That millions were doomed at his bidding to dwell, 
Within the dark bounds of a terrible hell, 
Where Hope never enters, but ring on the air 
The weepings and wailings of endless despair. 

I once thought the Bible was God's holy word, 

That reason opposing should never be heard; 

I made it my study, my ev'ry day care; 

Its falsehoods were truth, and its curses were prayer; 

To doubt was a crime that could ne'er be forgiven, 

And faith was the lever that raised us to heaven. 

I once thought that Death was a monster accurst, 

Of evils the greatest, the last and the worst; 

His maw, so insatiate, swallowed our race, 

And left of their beauty and glory no trace; 

The grave, was. a shadow-land, cheered by no Spring, 

Where sat on his ice-throne, a skeleton king. 

I once thought that Earth was a valley of tears, 
A wilderness-world, full of sorrows and fears; 
That God's curse had blasted its beauty and grace, 
And poisoned the fairest and best of the race; 
I wept as I thought of this horrible ban, 
And sorrowed that God should have made me a man. 
Ye fables of childhood ! my faith in you fled; 
Ye lie in the tomb with the dust-covered dead. 



THE jNIAKERS AND VENDERS OE INTOXICA- 
TINO DRINK. 

IMagician like, they take our food, transform it into death, 
And blast the younf? and gentle with its pestilential breath. 
As leeches, drain the nation of its hap})iness and wealth, 
And as a deadly poison, pale the l)looming- cheek of health. 
They feed. the fount of sorrow, and increase the source of ill, 
Until a mighty flood rolls down, where once was but a rill. 
They dam the streams of gladness as they leap to bless the 

earth. 
And change to yells of madness, e'en the sweetest strains of 

mirth. 
They wither, like a deadly blast, the blooming flow'rs of joy , 
And, as an icy breath, our fiiir and budding hopes destroy. 
Xo hamlet liavc they loft uncursed, no place but knows the 

woe 
That follows in their deadly train, wherever they may go. 
You tell me they make money, at this horrid trade of theirs , 
A blessing to themselves, and then, a blessing to their heirs; 
A curse goes with the money, and they cannot say it nay; 
A stain is on their hoarded wealth, they cannot wash away: 
From human blood 'tis daily coined, mid curses, groans and 

fears, 
No dollar, but was steeped within a fount of scalding tears. 
Make money ? yes, no doubt they do, and other things as well: 
Such things they would keep secret, but the voice of truth 

must tell. 



23 



They make the staff of life into sharp arrows for death's bow; 
They dig an early grave wherein they lay their victims low. 
What liars, paupers, thieves they make, with hosts of God- 
less knaves, 

And turn our noblest men and true to basely crouching slaves. 
They raving, howhng drunkards make, more beasts than they 

arc men, 
Who put out reason's light till it can ne'er be lit again. 
Pale, weeping widows sad, their work, the heritors of grief, 
Who dread not death, that brings to them a long sought sweet 

relief; 
Lone orphans too, who never knew a parent's smile or kiss, 
Who never heard the voice of love, or knew domestic bliss. 
They make those jails and clanking chains for victims of their 

trade; 
Yon gallows, crowning all their work, by them was also made. 
They deepen ev'ry curse, and ev'ry wickedness they swell, 
And turn this lovely earth into a fiendish, fiery hell. 



24 

THE BATTLK OF FKKKDOM, ' 

Come up to the standard, ye good men and true, 

Ye're chosen by Freedom, she calls upon 3^ou. 

Come up to the standard, for this is the day; 

The enemy's fm-ming in l.)attle array. 

His banner^s uplifted, around it they fly. 

As birds in the Autumn that darken the sky. 

Congress-men, senators, judges are there,. 

And man-stealers, many as motes in the air; 

With rum-dealing deacons, and slave-holding priests, 

As crafty as serix^nts, as savage as beasts; 

These all have enlisted, and all receive pay. 

The champions of virtue and freedom to slay. 

Come up to the standard, ye good men and true. 

This host's to contend with, and warriors are few; 

Then haste ye from cit}-, and village, and town, 

The battle is waging, the foe's bearing down; 

The enemy makes a grand charge to regain 

The home of his father, his ancient domain. 

Bring broad swords, ye freemen, your arms, daring youth, 

And fight in the cause of Jehovah and Truth; 

For one shall be able a thousand to fight, 

And two noble men put ten thousand to flight; 

Then haste to the field, let the Iving's work be done, 

The battle of Freedom and Truth shall be won. 



2$ 



THE FREEMAN'S HYMN. 

Happy the man whose soul is free 

To follow Truth; O, God, and Thee! 

Kg creeds his soul to error chain, 

He snaps the priestly bonds in twain. 

The laws that Thou hast made, he loves, 
And this, by his obedience, proves; 

Not foolish, man-made laws, but Thine; 
Truthful, eternal, and divine. 

His soul within no sect confined; 

His church embraces all mankind; 
Each day a sabbath is to him; 

His life, a never-ceasing hymn. 

No Bible his, by mortals penned, 

Where truth and error strangely blend; 
His book, the book of Nature, true, 

God-made, immortal, ever new. • 

He prays no heaven, his soul to bless, 

Of everlasting idleness; 
But would a useful future spend 

In God-like works that know no end. 

No hell of useless torment fears, 
The home of agony and tears; 

No devil dreads, dark god of sin, 
The only evil is within. 



26 



To him the heavens thy love declare. 

The beams of morning, bright and fair; 

The stars of night, the land, the sea 
Are all the teachers of the Free, 

Thy voice he hears in ev'ry breeze. 

In wild bird's songs among the trees; 

And in the clouds of eve can trace 

The beamings of thy smiling face. 

Thou teachest him; where'er he turns 

Sweet lessons in thy school he learns; 

Of goodness, wisdom, truth and love, 
Made perfect in thy school above. 



WHAT IS RELiaiON? 

Not masses, nor crosses, nor Catholic creeds; 
Not mumbling of aves, nor counting of beads; 
Not church-going, psalm-singing, paying of priests, 
Attendance on sermons, prayer meetings, or feasts; 
Nor wearing a broad brim, and plain thou and thee; 
Or straight-collared coat, from the world's fashion free; 
It is not to kneel with a long, pious face, 
Or sing solemn anthems in some holy place ; 
In sect to be cradled, or on a creed nurst, 
Believing that ev'ry outsider is cursed; 



That God has in heaven ordained us to dwell, 
But left countless millions to drop into hell; 

Keligion is love in the heart and the life, 

The soother of sorrow, destroyer of strife; 

The soul's best physician, — relieves ev'ry pain, 

And in her dark cavern, lights hope once again. 

It curses no one who has doubts of its creed; 

It hunts up no martyrs to burn or to bleed; 

It tells of no devil with tortures and chains, 

No hell of unending and horrible pains. 

It seeks not to bless men, by force or by fear, 

But draws them with love to a God ever near. 

It tells of the right, and it whispers, obey, 

To happiness, Virtue, alone, is the way. 

This world it makes happy , and then beyond this, 

It points to another all sunny with bliss. 

Bright heaven of beauty, how fair are thy skies ! 

Thou home of the good, and thou school of the wise. 



26 
W II AT MAKES A MAN* 

Not num'rous years, nor lengthened life; 
Not pretty cMldren and a wife; 
Not pins, and chains, and fancy rings, 
Nor any such like trump'ry things; 
Not pipe, cigar, nor bottled wine, 
Nor liberty with kings to dine; 
Nor coat, nor boots, nor yet a hat, 
A dandy vest, or trim cravat; 
Not houses, land, nor golden ore, 
Nor all the world's wealth laid in store; 
Not IMister, Rev'rend, Sir, nor Squire, 
With titles that the mem'ry tire; 
Not ancestry traced back to "Will, 
Who went from Normandy, to kill; 
Not Latin, Greek, nor Hebrcw lore^ 
Nor thousand volumes rambled o'er. 
Not Judge's robe, nor Mayor's mace. 
Nor crowns that deck the royal race; 
These all united, never can 
Avail to make a single man. 

A truthful soul, a loving mind,. 
Full of affection for its kind. 
A helper of the human race, 
A soul of beauty and of grace; 
A spirit firm, erect and free. 
That never basely bends the knee; 



29 



That will not bear a feather's weight, 
Of Slavery's chain, for small or great; 
That truly speaks from God within, 
And never makes a league with sin; 
That snaps the fetters despots make, 
And loves the Truth for its own sake; 
That worships God and him alone. 
And bows no where but at his throne; 
That trembles at no tyrant's nod, — 
A soul that fears no one but God, 
And thus can smile at curse and ban; — 
That is the soul that makes a man. 



30 

WE'LL. LABOR IN LOVE FOR HUMANITY S 
SAI^E. 

While Ignorance darkens one heaven-made soul, 
While Bigotry holds o'er a mortal control, 
While Slavery robs men of virtue and will, 
And War has his gory hand lifted to kill, 
While Want can a brother's heart sorrowful make, 
We'll labor in love for Humanity's sake. 

Though some that were friends, in affliction may fail. 
Though bigots may frown, and like tigers assail, 
Though despots may seek with the felon to bind us, 
And ignorant priests, with their errors to blind us. 
Though stealthy assassins our lives fain would take, 
We'll labor in love for Humanity's sake. 

Till Freedom arise in her might from the grave. 
And claim as her child ev'ry down trodden slave; 
Till plenty shall gladden each dwelling on earth, 
And sadness and son-ow are banished by mirth; 
Till no bond remains for the freeman to break, 
We'll labor in love for Humanity's sake. 

No storms shall discourage, no dangers repel; 
All goodness is with us, it can but be well. 
No angel shall tempt us our duty to shirk, 
No demon shall scare us from doing the work, 
No mortal shall coax us our cov'nant to break, 
To labor in love for Humanity's sake. 



■3:3. 



OUR FATHER ABOVE. 

When discord is shooting the arrows of strife, 
And jealousy pois'ning the sweet springs of life; 

When tempted our brethren to injure or kill, 

Because of some real or fanciful ill; 
May reason restrain us, and brotherly love, 
EemeniVring we all have one Father above. 

When danger and sorrow hang darkly around, 
And hushed into silence is sympathy's sound; 
When life is enveloped in sadness and gloom, 
And friendship is buried within the dark tomb; 
When wide seas divide us from those that we love, 
How sweet is the thought, *Ve've a Father above." 

When death, with his summons, approaches our bed, 

And youth, in its vigor and beauty, is fled; 

When dim is the eye that once beamed with delight, 
And dark round the soul, fall the shadows of night; 

We'll lie down in peace, then, assured of his love. 

And go to the home of our Father above. 



32 



MAN, ^VOMAN AND PRIEST': 
Mait. 

Groaning, weaiy, heavy-laden;. 

Lo ! I see a weeping maiden; 

Sad and desolate she moans; 

Such distress might move the stones. 

Who has dared to blast this flower — 

Made such cursed use of power ? 

Who has bound this maid in chains ? 

Demons haunt him for his pains ! 

I will raise the drooping slave; 

Woman, rise ! be free, be brave ! 

Cast thy burden to the ground; 

By chains thou shalt no more be bound. 

Priest. 

Stay thy hand ! rash fool, beware ! 
An Apostle placed them there; 
God himself the burden laid 
On the shoulders of the maid. 
Cease ! His vengeance, at a blow, 
May, this moment, lay thee low. 



Max, 

God ! what God has done this deed ? 
Maker of the Hindoo creed ? 
Juggernaut, whose bloody rites 
Feast his soul with rare delights ? 

Priest. 

Scoffer, have you never heard 
God's most holy, precious word ? 
Eead his laws, they all declare 
Woman must the burden bear. 
Man is lord of all below; 
"Woman as he wills must go; 
She in all thjngs must obey, 
God hath said, dare 3'ou gainsay ? 

Max. 

I your holy book have read; 
Maiden, raise thy drooping head. 
There's a holier book than yours, 
Evermore its truth endures; 
He who made the earth and sea, 
Wrote o'er all blest Liberty. 



34 



Who the mountains made and plains, 
Never put this maid in chains. 
Fish in water, bird in air, 
Eills and liowers, bright and fair, 
"Winds that blow, the humming bee, 
Sing to us of Liberty. 
Let your "Jewish fables" go; 
Error is the source of woe. 
Nature to the world is preaching. 
Listen to her truthful teaching; 
]Men and women, wise and free, 
Then shall come the Jubilee. 



35 



WHAT I ASK FOR. 



I ask not, Nabobs, for your halls, 

Your coffers, or your state; 
I ask not for the menials. 

That at your pleasure wait; 
I ask not for the cringing bows, 

That fawning spaniels give, 
"Whose servile spirits never knew 

The aim for which I live. 

I ask but for my share of land. 

With honest hands to till, 
Supplying thus my daily needs, 

Frown Fortune as she will. 
Give me but this, I'll gain all else, 

Healthy, contented, free; 
God's sun and rain, his frost and snow 

Shall ever work for me. 



36 



THE AOVIuXT OF FREEDOM. 

'Twas Summer cvc; the soft wind rocked to sleep the 

nodding floAvers, 
While busy insects sang thoir loves, "within the arching 

bowers. 
I wandered forth from man's hot town; 't was heav'n on 

earth to me, 
To lie upon the fragrant grass, beneath the spreading 
tree. 

As sank the sun in glory down behind the crimson AVest, 
Arose, upon my fading sight, the star of ev'ning, blest; 
And lo ! enlarging as I looked, it seemed a golden crown, 
Upon an angel's head upborne, who thus came flying 

down 
She cast a glance that thrilled me, as beneath the tree I 

lay; 
Unwittingly I followed, as she gently led the way. 



37 



She lilted up a cottage latch, how pleasantly she smiled, 
And shook the peasant's horny hand, and kissed his 

ruddy child. 
"My blessing on ye breathers of the fresh, free, country 

air; 
Be manly, and be bold," ahe said; "be bold to do and 

dare; 
Though tyrant knaves may rivet chains, your toil shall 

give you strength; 
And ev'ry fetter shall ye tread beneath your feet at 

length." 

She visited the city; but she left the gay and proud, 
And sought a little attic, all unnoticed by the crov^^d. 
Where sat a youth, whose sparkling eyes revealed the in- 
ward fire, 
"Which kindled in the bosom once, can cnever more ex- 
pire. 
She laid her hand upon his brow: "Gfo forth, my son," 

said she, 
"I make thee Captain of the hosts that fight for Liberty." 

She passed a gloomy prison, and her face put on a frown; 
The rusty bars of iron, at her presence melted down; 



m 



The treble-bolted dooi-s flew back, that dosed" the gToc»- 

my cell, 
Oat sprang the trembling prisoner, a man,, -^dthmen to^ 

dwell. 
Her eye beheld the gallows,. and it rotted- to the gi-oiind,^ 
While crowds of legal murd'rers in amazement looked 

around. 

She spread her pinion-s for the South,, the bondman raised 

his heady 
For though his manhood bleeding lay,. Hope, ling'ring^ 

had not fled. 
The planter saw, and drew his knife,, with fury in his> 

eye, 
And swore, with fe-arful ©aths,. that he wouli hold his- 

slave or die. 
A shadow crossed her blooming face, she left the land 

of thrall, 
Where bondmen find their sweetest di-ink is bittereir 

than gall. 

"The Church will gladly aid me now, no doubt," the 

angel said, 
And thither on her pinions swift, the blest cTeliv'rer fled. 



so 



*Twas Sabbath, and the priest beheld her comiug to 
the place,. 

He closed the door, and hastened forth, and cursed her 
to her face; 

^Begone" he said, "why thus disturb our diueh's holy 
rest? 

Thou breeder of continual strife, we can have no such 
guest; 

Then banned her from the "Holy Book," "base, hell- 
born wretch," said he, 

"God dwells within our walls, we have no room for Lib- 
erty." 

Indignantly I heard him speak, I felt my brain on fire; 

"Base utterer of pioiTS lies,." I shouted in my ire; 

But Freedom turned, as thus I spoke, with chiding look ^ 
to me; 

I started, it was night profound, I lay beneath the ti^ee; 

Night's cresset fires were blaziug bright,. and in their star- 
uy gleam 

I wandered home to ponder on the meaning of my drea-m. 



40 



DO RIGHT. 



'T is wisest and bsst at all times to do right; 
In brightness of sunshine, or darkness of night; 
For Sorrow and Woe are companions of Sin, 
"When Virtue walks out, then they quickly fly in; 
Xo rest is there henceforth, by day or by night, 
For him who has wandered away from the Hight. 

Do right, in each heart, says a sweet angel voice; 

Obey, and in sorrow 3'ou still may rejoice; 

A rill, in your wand' rings, will always be nigh, 

And there you may drink, when the fountains are dry; 

For Joy, like an angel, is ever in sight. 

To bless with her presence the doer of Right. 

Do right, though the wrong may seem pleasant and good; 

Though right may seem hard, it is well that it should; 

The harder the right is, the sweeter 't will be, 

To know we have conquered, and, henceforth, are free. 

The glorious warrior, boldest in fight, 

Is he, who in trial, abides by the Eight. 



41 



For him, sing the birds, aye their merriest tune; 
For him, spring the flowers in April and June; 
For him opens Morning the gates of the day; 
For him, walks the moon on her star-lighted way; 
The fingers of Sorrow are never so light, 
As when they are laid on the doer of Right. 

Do right, though a crowd of mean cowards do wrong; 
A child, in the right, is as Hercules, strong. 
The pathway is steep, and few trav'lers are there; 
The prospect, how pleasant 1 how balmy the air ! 
Then up, like the eagle that soars in his flight; 
Heaven's mansions are built on the mountain of RiQ-ht. 



42 



DEDICATED TO aRUMBLERS. 

^T is true, the world is very bad, 
]SI"o mortal soul can blink it; 

But then, it's not so deadly vile 
As some fault-finders think it. 

All poor men are not wliinuig knave. 

Nor robbers, all our rich men. 
Eeformers, clearing off the track, 

Be careful where you pitch men ! 

All parsons are not crafty priests. 
Proud, lying, base deceivers — 

Guides, who for pay, lead far astray 
Their band of firm believers. 

All lawyers are not gabbling regimes, 

Intent alone on plunder, 
Who, for a dollar, scale the mount 

Of Jove, and steal his thunder. 

Our legislative halls are not 
Sodoms without a Lot in; 

Though you will find, of members there, 
Few groups without a sot in. 



43 



The mass so vile, at Washington, 
The devil finds no fault in, 

Would drop assunder, were it not 
That there's a pinch of salt in. 

No doubt, dark shadows cross the earth, 
Scarce liven'd by a straylight; 

But how is it, these shades are seen ? 
We live in Virtue's daylight 

The deeds at which our Withers smiled, 
Nor thought a man the worse for, 

We look upon with deep disgust, 
And give our direst curse for. 

The world is but a school-boy yet, 
That each day learns a letter, 

And all the time is striding on; 
Thus, daily growing better. 

Then cease this everlasting growl; 

Be gentle, kind and tender; 
And, since the world is bad, let's join, 

And do our best to mend her. 



44 



THE REAL AND THE IDEAL. 

Ever there floats before the real, 
The bright, the beautiful ideal; 
And as to guide the sculptor's hand, 
The living forms of beauty stand, 
Till from the rough-hewn marble starts 
A thing of grace in all its parts — 

So, ever stands before the soul, 
A model, beautiful and whole — 
The perfect man that each sliould be. 
Erect in true integrity. 
Keep this, soul, before thy sight, 
And form the inward man ariirht ! 



45 



ADDITION TO "THE QOOD TIME 
COMING." 

There's a good time coming, boys; 

A good time coming. 
Men shall not buy what is not breads 
Nor drink until their reason 's fled, 

In the good time coming; 
But quaff spring water, bright and clear, 

And nothing that is stronger. 
And banish brandy, wine and beer; 
Wait a little longer. 

There 's a good time coming, boys; 

A good time coming. 
Man shall no longer trade in man, 
Nor on his dark skin place a ban, 

In the good time coming; 
For broken shall be slav'ry's chain. 

Though it were ten times stronger. 
And never more be forged again; 

Wait a little longer. 



4G 



THOUGHTS. 



Thoughts, gentle thoughts, are springing hke the flow'rs 

in smiling ^lay; 
Bright earth-stars, fair and golden, M'ith a blessing in 

each ray; 
They gladden childhood in its dance along life's verdant 

lanes. 
And soothe the years of manhood, in its time of toils and 

pains; 
jSTo desert soul so barren, but they beautify the spot; 
And where they fail to germinate, there God himself is 

not. 

Thoughts, holy thoughts, like stars arise, when night 

enwraps the soul, 
Or iK^acon lights above the sea, when waves of sorrow 

roll; 
They close the door on vanity; they shut out lust and 

pride, 
Like fairest angels, wandering forever at our side; 
To ev'r}- soul of earth, they give a seraph's burning 

wings, 
And far alK>ve the srates of morn, she soars aloft and sings. 



47 



Thoughts, dreadful thoughts, at midnight >comc, the soul 

a drifting wreck; 
Their hurried footsteps pacing up and down the sounding 

deck, 
When dark misdeeds within the hold, weigh down the 

ship Hke lead — 
The creaking timbers groaning like the ghosts of ti'oubled 

dead, 
While gaping waves around it for possession soem to fight; 
From thoughts like these, God save us, in the lonely 

hour of night. 

Thoughts come like Spanisli galleons, with treasures o*er 
the sea, 

With richest jewels freighted, as a present for the free: 

Each soul is on the tip-toe, when their gallants touch the 
sky, 

And hearts with high hopes laden, greet those vessels 
drawing nigh. 

Each noble ship be favored, then, its destined port to win, 
And Heaven's breath safe waft it, with its precious car- 
goes, in. 

Thoughts come like blazing comets, 'thwart the gloomy 

ev'ning sky, 
And wonder-stricken millions look with terror upon high; 
They dread lest ev'ry fabric, on this God-made earth, 

should fall; 
Lest comet so portentous should destroy and ruin all. 



4& 



But thoughts, too, have their orbit, all eccentric ti>ough 

they look; 
Xo vraycr in their burning track, unwritten in the book. 

Thoughts come like avalanches, from the lofty mountain 

brow; 
The cedars, Ih-m and mighty, with their sturdy branches 

bow; 
. The rocky, moss-grown castles fall, no turret 's left im- 

thrown, 
While loud above the thundering, comes Superstition's 

groan. 
All hoar3--headed wrongs are swept, hke feathers on the 

blast. 
Into oblivion's deepest gulf, where sleeps '"the worn out 

past." 

Thoughts come like shocks electric, from the battery of 

Truth, 
To strengthen manhood's nerves of steel, and iii-e ths 

pulse of youth; 
They wake to action, vh-tues that have long been left to 

sleep; 
And stir the soul's calm fountain, to its silent, slumb'riug 

deep; 



49 



They blast each growing error, with their deadly light- 
ning stroke, 
And leave its stricken carcass, like a rifted mountain oak. 

Thoughts yoke themselves hke fiery steeds, and drag 
the world along; 

Woe to the stumbling blocks that would its onward 
march prolong ! 

Vain ; tyrants, despots, slavcocrats, its course ye can- 
not stay ! 

Eesistless as the Universe, it moves upon its way. 

Dash on; brave Thoughts, in stoim or shine, in day, or 
darkest night ! 

The goal we 're destined yet to reach, is Loye, and Teuth, 
and Right. 



50 



THE FUTURE DAY 



The dawn of the glorious day is here, 
Foretold by the voice of the ancient seer; 
That far down the vista of future years, 
Through gathering clouds to his soul appears; 
And Hope, with a joyous tone, sweetly sings 
Its glories, till earth with her music ring-s. 
That day when lost Eden shall be restored; 
The Universe bow to its rightful Lord; 
AVhen Mercy shall drop from the beaming skies, 
And men shall be holy and truly wise 
For Joy shaU enliven the fleeting hours, 
And Love shall encircle the earth with flow'rs, 
And Beauty shall spring up on every side, 
To fill with its glory the green earth wide; 
AYhen Concord the wounds of the world shall bind, 
And man shall a brother in each man find, 
The chain of the felon shall melt in twain, 
And sorrow disperse like the foiling rain; 
"When AVar and its thunders forever shall cease, 
And heaven shall echo an anthem of peace; 
"When Truth, as the sun in his might, shall shine. 
And gladden each soul with a light divine, 
Frror shall flee, like a night-bird, awa}'. 
And nought dim the lustre of that bright day. 



LIBETY'S STAR 



When Liberty's dream haunts the sleep of the slave, 
And angels are whispering, "Brother, be brave;" 
When, daring the weight of the slaveholder's ban, 
He flees to obtain all the rights of a man. 
How gladly thy beams greet his sight from aftir, 
His growing soul leaps to see Liberty's Star. 

The bloodhound is baying, a wolf's on his track; 

"Ho ! dead or alive, bring the fugitive back," 

He sinks to the earth, he is ready to die; 

But bright from the heaven thy beam greets his eye; 

New life fills his veins, and his foes are afar ! 

W^ith tears he thanks God for bright Liberty's Star. 

The Cross of the South may be fair to the eye, 

The Milky Way's gems may bespangle the sky; 

The Comet may range through the heavens, and light, 

With glorious train, half the circle of night; 

But steadier, bet ter and brighter, by far. 

Is th' hope of the fugitive, Liberty's Star. 



APPEAL TO AMERICA 



Freedom's proud daughter, why 
Hug Slav'ry to thy breast ? 

Let the foul reptile die; 

ISo may thy land have rest. 

Wash from thy country's page, 
The dark, accursed blot; 

Let not another age 

Behold the damning spot. 

Stand in your strength, men ! 

Bow to the wrong no more; 
Free tliis fan- land again, 

As ye have done before. 

Eise in your might divine; 

Be ev'ry dark cloud furld; 
America shall shine. 

The pole-star of the world. 



53 



THE ANTHEM OF THE FREK. 

There 's a song the rills aro singingj 

As they ramble through the glenj 
Echoes from the hills are rolling 

Their sweet yoices back again. 
There 's a hj^mn the birds are chanting, 

As they flit from tree to tree; 
Kature loves its joyous music; 

'Tis the Anthem of the Free. 

Eoll the wild waves to its numbers, 

As the free winds o'er them sweep; 
Gambol gaily in its spirit, 

All the tenants of the deep; 
To its notes the bees are humming, 

Working on the verdant lea; 
Ev'ry where is Nature ringing 

With the Anthem of the Free. 

?Start we then, from death-like slumber, 

As its heart- tones reach the ear: 
Spring to life, resolves long lying 

In our bosoms, cold and sere. 
Henceforth we are slaves no longer; 

Up, on unchained pinions flee ! 
Swell the everlasting chorus, 

God's sweet Anthem of the Free, 



54 



ON BEINa ASKED TO TAKE 
THE OATH OF ALLEQIANCE 



What! swear myself a Godless knave? 
A tyrant o'er the trembling slave? 

A bloodhound for the southern band, 

That hunt the bondman through our land? 
To strangle Truth, to murdur Love, 
Aud to the vulture give the dove? 

To cast out Pity from my heart, 

And bid all manhuess depart? 
My right hand from my body sever, 
Ere I be Slav'ry's minion, ever ! 

I swear to fight till Error dies, 

Till Slav'ry's rotting carcass lies 
A stench to all beneath the sun, 
Amd Freedom's latest field is won. 

I swear to spare no manly stroke. 

To break the proud oppressor's yoke; 
To let no sun pass o'er my head, 
Without some word for Fresdom said: 

Some action done to raise the slave, 

And send Oppression to its grave. 



55 



SLAVERY 



Let Slav'ry spread her ample sails, 
And boldly float with fav'ring gales, 
Some undiscovered land to gain, 
And sow the smiling soil with pain; 
Her pirate hold filled to the deck 
With sad humanity a wreck; 
The storm is gath'ring that shall sweep 
Her rifted timbers o'er the deep. 



The night is pregnant with the day; 
The storm is father of the calm; 
And battle's hot and bloody fray 
Heralds the conqueror's crowning palm. 



66 



\VRECK OF HUMANITY, 



Wreck of humanity, on the world's ocean, 
Tossed by the billows, in angry commotion; 
Driven by howling winds, driven like foam; 
Black heaven scowling, no hope, and no home; 

Breakers around him, a rock-girted shore; 
Death-dirges chant the wild waves as they roar; 
•'Ours, the mariner ! ours, make room ! 
On floats the mariner, on to his doom." 

Lowers, to press him, the thunderous sky;, 
Clutch him the waves, as they madly leap by; 
Hope sinks behind a dark cloud in the West;. 
Starless the gloom in his desolate breast. 

Light trembles over the wilderness sea; 
Hope yet my soul ! No, it never can be. 
God ! am I dying, or is it a dream ? 
Flair as the morning, and bright as its beam 

Comes a sweet angel, with love on her brow, 
Guiding a life-boat with star-lighted prow. 
Joy ! for bright day has succeeded the night; 
Joy ! for the haven of life is in sight. 



57 



THE TRUE LIGHT 



'T was First day morn, the sun shone bright, 
And, as a god, dispensed his hght; 
The cit}^ in its lucid beam, 
AVas fair as Pleaven in a dream; 
A stillness reigned as night profound, 
Unbroken by a single sound, 
' Till from a hundred steeples high, 
Whose proud heads seemed to prop the sky, 
A thousand bells rang on the air, 
"Come people, to the house of prayer." 
And as the call went far and wide, 
I saw a living, human tide, 
A well-dressed, well-fed, smiling throng. 
Pouring with golden books along. 
I followed to a temple fair. 
Whose gilt dome floated in the air; 
Through windows stained the dim light stole, 
And beauty gladdened ev'ry soul; 
The organ's peal swept through the aisle. 
In tones would make an angel smile; 
Now, soft as is a fair}^ strain, 
Then, groaning "like a god in pain," 



58 



AVhen music's silver voice was dumb. 

Ami Silence to her temple come, 

I heard the priest, in accents loud, 

Address the large, attentive crowd. 

He said: "My friends, this truth is clear, 

All die in sin who come not here; 

For Peter will the gate unlock 

To none but our believing Hock; 

All else are heretics beside, 

For whom Christ neither lived nor died. 

The Pope' s the God-appointed head; 

r>y him to life ye shall be led, 

Nor with the goats — a num'rous band — 

Be found at last on God's left hand." 

He ended; and I turned away 

From the proud temple's grand display. 

Attracted by a pleasing sound, 
A humbler buikhng then I found. 
And heard one preach from "Christ the way, 
"My friends," he said, " 't is clear as day, 
"Who make the Pope theh* god are wrong; 
A fearful truth they'll find ere long. 
Christ is alone the living way, 
Our leader to the realms of Day. 



59 



])y him we're washed fi'oin ev'ry stain; 
In him we all are born again; 
We have the witness from above, 
And know, and feel, that God is love. 
How dark the soul without this light, 
Its pathway shrouded by the night. 
Lies hard upon the brink of hell, 
Where spirits unredeemed must dwell.' 

In search of Truth, I bent my way, 
And many more I heard that day. 
One said 'We fell in Adam's fall;" 
And one, "We never fell at all." 
One said, with solemn shake and nod, 
"There is a trinity in God, 
Disbelief in which who cherish, 
Everlastingly shall perish." 
And straight I heard another cry, 
"The trinity 's a Pagan lie, 
A thing the Scriptures never mention, 
A foolish, heathenish invention." 
"The sinner must forever dwell," 
1 heard one say, "in blackest hell;" 
Another, then, at once declared, 
That Heaven Avould by all be shared 



60 



"Within the Holy book I've read, 
This is the way to life," he said; 
Another, with succeeding breath. 
Exclaimed, ''That is the road to death." 

A trav'ler then, which wa}- to go, 

Bewildered thus, I did not know. 

With anxious doubts my mind opprest, 

Where could I go for light and rest ? 

For darkness spread her vail around, 

And wrapped m}'- soul in night profound . 

'T was then I saw, or did I dream ? 

I saw a Light like morning's beam; 

An angel form unto me came, 

Whose wings M'ere tipped with ambient flame. 

He said, " I come to guide thy youth, 

And lead thee in the path of Truth. 

All thou hast seen are somewhat right. 

Though none walk fully in the Light; 

A vail shuts out her brightest ray. 

That priests care not to tear away. 

Thou hast within thy soul a light, 

Can chase away the gloom of night; 

A map by heavenly wisdom planned, 

To lead thee to the Better Land. 



61 



Then look within, for God is there, 
And cease to wander anywhere; 
And thou wilt then this truth be shown, 
God loves the good, and those alone. 
The soul sincere, wherever found, 
On Christian or on heathen ground, 
Is blessed by him who made the skies, 
And finds acceptance in his eyes. 
Be ev'ry deed in kindness wrought, 
And nobly live thy purest thought; 
Then God shall smile, and angels bright 
Forever bring thee new delight. 
Be this thy drink, be this thy food, 
Ever to labor, doing good; 
So shall thy soul renew its youth, 
And thou "be one with God and Truth." 



^2 



THE SOUL'S PAST AND PRESENT. 



My youthful days, were da3's of joy — of free and care- 
less mii-th; 

And heaven seemed as true to me, as ever did the earth. 

The "Land of Promise" lay before my bright, uncloud- 
ed eye; 

I longed for wings, that I might to its vernal bowers fly. 

But dark days came, of fear and doubt, my soul's bright 

hopes lay dead; 
And, as the early morning dew, my beauteous visions 

fled; 
Like mountains, unl:>elicf rose up, and shut out heaven's 

blue sky. 
And to my soul a harsh voice said, "Thou too art bom 

to die." 



I was upon the ocean launched; dark, stormy was the 

night, 
And not a star put forth a ray to bless my aching sight; 
M}' anchor lost, the wild winds swept me unresisting on, 
And o'er my bark^ despairing waves rolled ever and 



63 



But lo ! the marning star of Hops arises in the sky, 

And back the darkly gathering clouds before her pres- 
ence fly; 

My 3'onthfLil heav'n comes back to me, still brighter 
than before, 

And, plainly, as the fields of earth, I see the golden 
shore: 



Sweet voices from the Spirit Land are whisp'ring in my 

ear; 
They bid me walk the path of Right, and banish ev'ry 

fear; 
They warble to me joyous strains, brought from the 

choirs above, 
The ''vale of tears" becomes to me, a paradise of love. 



Oar Father's mansion stands before my soul's enrap- 
tured sight, 

I see bright spirits walk the fields of everlasting light; 

And though these visions pass away — ^tliese angel forms 
depart, 

I will rejoice, for heaven has left its impress on my 
heart. 



64 

COMFORT FOR THE MOURNER. 

There is a garden where evermore bloom 

The floAYcrs of bjaut}^, that vanish below; 

They scent the glad air with a precious perfume, 

And unfold in eternity's glow; 

Then banish the shadows of sorrow away; 

Our Father transplants the sweet flowers he gave; 

To heaven's bright garden, this life is the way, 

And its gate is the desolate grave. 

There is a world where there breathes not a blight, 

The light heart of joy knows no shadow of woe; 

There ring on the ear the sweet sounds of delight, 

More melodious than any below; 

Peace, gentle Peace swa3's her sceptre of love, 

While, round her pure throne, all the bright angels fly; 

But, 0, that blest haven lies far, for above ! 

Aiid to reach it, the body must die. 

There is a home where departed souls dwell; 

The home of our Father, how pleasant and fair ! 

His children, all meet round the board, and they swell 

Through the mansion a heavenly air. 

Happy are the}", from the cares of earth fled, 

Their joy, evermore, unalloyed by a gloom; 

Then weep not in sorrow for those who are dead, 

For the door of that home is the tomb. 



65 



MY LAMB. 



I had a Lamb from our Father's fold, 
More dear to me than the finest gold; 
Its fleece was whiter than driven snow, 
And pure as streams from the mountain flow; 
Its eye was clear as the glist'ning dew, 
AVhere love looked out at those windows blue: 
And I was happy as man could be, 
Whene'er those starry eyes beamed on me. 

We roamed together at morning's dawn, 
With glad steps over the jeAvelled lawn; 
We crossed the valleys, and climbed the hills, 
And drank with birds at the crj'stal rills; 
Earth was greener, more bright the sky, 
Fairer all things when that Lamb was nigh. 

At eve, when weary we sank to rest, 

Its head was pillowed upon my breast; 

'Twas then I heard the celestial song; 

Of heaven my dreams were the blest night long, 

Angels watched o'er my Lamb and me, 

Rounding the night with their melody. 



66 



But vaiiud in gloom were my glad dreams, wlien 

Our Father sent for his lamb again. 

I strove to keep her, but Death said "Xo, 

The Shepherd calls, and the Lamb must go ! 

But though I take her, it is in love; 

She goes to feed with the flocks above. 

The pastures there arc forever green, 

And streams that fail not flow on between; 

There dwells the Shepherd, whose name is Love, 

Around him gath'ring the blest above; 

Then sorrow not for the dear one dead." 

'T was thus the spirit deliv'rer said; 

And Hope, with angel voice, whispered then, 

"AYcep not, thou wilt find thy Lamb again." 



67 



A PSAI.M OF THK PRESENT. 

Tell me not, that inspiration 

Died with Jewish Ixard and seer; 

That the present generation 

Only finds its mournful bier. 

Tell me not, the Past, all cheerful, 

Reaped when Truth was in her prime; 

But tho Present, sad and tearful. 
Gleans the fields of olden time. 

Tell me not, that heaven's portals 

Closed when Science had her birth; 

And from thence the fair immortals 
iTever visited the earth; 

That the ever-loving angels 

Ceased their songs long, long ago, 

And they herald sweet evangels 
Nevermore to those below. 

For the fount of life supernal 

Feeds unnumbered earthly springs. 

And the joys, that are eternal. 
To the waiting spirit brings. 



68 



Ccme to us the friends m ho vanished — 
Left us weeping on the shore; 

Eden's garden find the banished, 
Eat, and hve forevermore. 

Manhood's vanguard scales the mountain, 
Heaven opens to their view; 

Weary trav'lers, by the fountain ! 
Up ! and gird yourselves anew. 



Build your churches, they are ours, 
By a law ye have not known; 

Eaise your steeples, llank your towers ! 
Truth shall claim them for her own. 

Marble, be the solid walls, 

Granite, the foundation stone; 

Error, build thy princely halls ! 

Truth shall claim them for her own. 



69 



MY FORTUNE. 

I'm heir to no fortune, no lordly estate; 
No child of the wealthy, the proud, or the great; 
No slave calls me master, no tenant a lord; 
No low-bending vassals e'er eat at my board; 
No cellars have I, overflowing with wine, 
From Moselle, Oporto, or world-renowned Rhine; 
No sums in the bank, and no stock in the field; 
No gran'rys to fill with Avhat harvests may yield; 
No galPry of pictures, by masters renowned, 
Dependent in halls, by the beautiful crowned; 
Nor beauty, nor fashion e'er come at my call, 
To garland a feast, or to dance at a ball. 

"Thou' rt Poverty's child, and hast ever been so." 
I think of my treasures, and answer ye, No. 
God's palace is mine, with its high dome of blue, 
Its curtains, the clouds, with the light peeping through j 
My carpet, the flower- spangled meadow and lea, 
And merry birds warble sweet music for me. 



70 



The clouds drop me nectar, the rocks distil wine; 
Then never for less worth}' drink shall I pine ; 
While Xature supplies me with fruits of the field, 
I long not for aught that Intemp'rance can yield. 

My pictures are landscapes, unfading and true, 
Each set in a frame of magnificent blue; 
The master, who painted, retouches them still; 
No mark of his pencil, but tells of his skill; 
Each moment they change, and new beauties unfold, 
Now tinted with lead, and then burnished with gold; 
I view them at morning, Night's curtain updrawn, 
The lake and the mountain, the wood and the lawn, 
When gently the breath, of the murmuring breeze, 
Comes laden Avith fragrance from blossoming trees. 
When slowly the sun-light retires in the West, 
And sweet to the lab'rer comes coolness and rest. 
The moon lights each scene with her silvery ray, 
The night has a glory unknown to the day; 
When bright in the meadow the fireflies glance, 
And look through the leaves, like the stars in a dance, 
While spirits unseen whisper Hope in my ear, 
And earth is so lovely that heaven seems near. 

M}' cot is but lowly, yet Peace abides there, 
And Health, joyous maiden, with check ever fair; 



71 



iiove smiles on me joyously all the day long, 
And Hope ever sings a melodious song. 
I'm rich in a happy and peaceable mind, 
A soul whose pulse beats for the bliss of mankind. 
I'm rich in a love of the good and the true; 
Such riches bring pleasures and bliss ever new; 
I'm rich in the hope of an endless delight, 
Where sin cannot enter, nor sorrow nor iiight; 
Where paltry gold wins not a soul from its truth, 
But goodness lives ever in beautiful youth; 
There God has provided an infinite store. 
And riches untold shall be mine evermore. 



THE SON a OF BEAUTY. 



There 's Beauty in the rolling stream, as dancing on its way, 
The blue-bells and the violets drink vigor from its spray; 
The green trees greet it with a smile, the birds sing to its 

praise, 
While sweetest echoes roll along its banks their joyous lays. 
There 's Beauty in the rolling stream. Beauty all around; 
You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 



72 



The gorgeous hues that deck the sky, the rainbow's beaute- 
ous arch, 

The golden, fleecy clouds above, forever on the march, 

The jewell'd stars, those eyes of night, what beauty in their 
glance. 

As leads the moon the fair ones out to join the nightly 
dance. 

Tliere's Beauty in the azure sky, Beauty all around; 

You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 

The dimpled waves in merry chase, along the briny shore, 

What beauteous shells they scatter on the blue sea's sandy 
floor; 

What beauty in the coral caves, where mermaids dwell be- 
low. 

And bright pearls gleam, those ocean stars, with everlasting 
glow. 

There's Beauty in the sounding sea, Beauty all around; 

You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 

How lovely is the mountain cot, for Beauty's home is there, 
The stream, the meadow and the wood combine to make it 

fair; 
' T is garlanded with roses round, and smiling children pla}^, 
And chase the bees and butterflies, throughout the summer 

day. 
There 's Beauty in the lowly cot, Beauty all around; 
You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 



73 



BEAUTY'S DWELLING PLACE. 

I dwell in the regions of ice and snow, 
Where winds in continual tempests blow; 
Where terrible icebergs uprear their form, 
As monuments proud of the Frost and Storm; 
They pile to the heavens the em' raid towers. 
And finish their halls in the long night hours. 

I dwell in the South in a bow'r of bloom, 
AVhere orange and pomegranate breathe perfume; 
Where silvery streams o'er the golden sand, 
Eun down to their ocean home hand in hand; 
Through ever-green arbors the bright birds fl}'', 
And Winter dirturbs not the calm blue sky. 

My home is a cave in the crystalline deep. 

Where wild waves its portals with vigilance keep; 

There mermaids attend to my every call. 

And weave for the sea-boy a fun'ral pall; 

They watch by his grave, where the tree-corals grow 

And pearls light his tomb with their radiant glow. 



74 



I dwell in the sky, ^vhen the young beams of morn, 

The cloudlets in manifold colors adorn; 

I wander with them in their glorious march, 

The rainbows above us triumphantly arch; 

At even, I shine in the radiant star, 

That tells to the earth of a bright realm afar. 

I dwell in the sun, bright dispenser of light; 
The monarch'of day> and the conq'ror of night; 
That wakens the drowsy old earth from his sleep, 
And calms, with its smiling, the turbulent deep; 
The moon's silver beam, as it sheds a sweet ray, 
Upon the old time-eaten turrets so gray. 

I robe all the trees in their foliage green. 
And give to the silvery waters their sheen; 
Bestow on the flowers of summer their hue, 
The red of the rose, and the vi'lets deep blue; 
I festoon the path of the wandering poor, 
And flow'r garlands fling o'er the cottager's door. 

In forest or field, in the sea or in air, 
Wherever you wander, you'll still find me there; 
My smile's in the dew-drop, my glance in the gem, 
Adorning with brightness the fair diadem. 
There 's nothing on earth, that is lovely and fair. 
Unformed by my skill, or unwatched by my care. 



75 



THE SEASONS. 

Spring came, a maiden j'oiing and fair, 
Unbound to the winds her silken hair; 
Her k^-rtle, green, was trimmed with bhie, 
Her footstep, light as falling dew. 

'Twas morning; on yon distant liill 
She stood one moment, all was still, 
Then sang so sweet an anthem there, 
That heaven seemed to fill the air, 
And flowers, buried in the ground. 
Woke up to hear the joyous sound; 
While young buds startled, with surprise 
Opened in haste their wond'ring e3'es; 
And list'ning birds, in grove and glen, 
Kepeated that sweet strain again. 
Her breath was fragrance on the air, 
That floated down the valley fair. 
Distilling in each tin3^ cup, 
By ev'ry infant flow'r held up; 
Whence bees, who know the honey bells^ 
Transferred its sweetness to their cellr,. 



76 



What joy was there along her route '. 
The old woods hung their banners out. 
And by her side, with tinkling feet, 
The young rills danced to music sweety 
While spreading from her steps was seen, 
A living carpet, em'rald green, 
A path for Summer's gorgeous queen. 

Within a chariot of light. 

Whose winged steeds out-rode the night. 

Thus, driving o'er her wide domain, 

The goddess came with royal train. 

A velvet robe of varied hue, 

Around her lovely form she drew, 

Its colors brighter than the skies, 

Enriched by glowing sunset dyes; 

Her brow, by Beauty's own hand graced, 

A diadem of stars embraced. 

Whose rays, swift heralds, went before, 

Proclaiming her to ev'ry shore. 

" She comes ! she comes, with open hand. 

To scatter blessings on your land." 

Then, by her maids of royal birth, 

She gave her largess to the Earth, 

They wove for man the fragrant bow'rs, 

Those calm retreats in sunny hours, 



11 



Where liquid waves of music roll, 
To lift tlie sinking human soul; 
Then, in the city, dark and dim, 
"With sweetest voices, called to him. 
Their laughter swept the orchard through, 
The blossoms fell, the apples grew, 
The cherries blushed, and, from their beds, 
The scarlet berries raised their heads; 
And, o'er the fields of paly gold. 
The mimic waves in beauty rolled. 
They banished sorrow, pain and sighs, 
They called down beauty from the skies, 
And hand in hand, with her they played. 
Through ilow'ry nook and bow'ry shade, 
Kor thought of else till Autumn came; 
A staid, demure and thougtful dame. 
Her damsels on then- shoulders bear, 
The downy peach, the juicy pear. 
And purple grape, the fruit divine, 
Whose flasks contain the purest wine. 
The golden grain, in drooping sheaves^ 
They bore beneath the farmer's eaves; 
Within his mines laid up a store 
Of daily life's most needed ore. 
They set the verdant woods aflame; 
Each tree a burning bush became; 



78 



While sang the winds, with solemn sound, 
"Take off thy shoes, 'tis hol}^ ground." 

Ikit Autumn fled when from the Xorth 

Came AVinter's stormy mandate forth; 

His icy sceptre, held on high, 

Is felt and feared b}^ earth and sky. 

His word is law and, at his will. 

The world's wild pulse is standing still. 

A thousand dashing streamlets hear, 

They stop, and hold their breath for fear; 

From spreading clouds the white leaves fall, 

With crystal foliage cover all, 

And swiftly wrap, from head to feet, 

The dead earth in her winding sheet. 

As through the wood its echoes ring, 

The trembling birds forget to sing; 

And man, the lord of all, turns pale, 

When Winter's voice comes on the gale. 

But Spring is hast'ning on apace. 
She'll take old hoary Winter's place; 
She'll cheer the earth with light and song, 
And make her life's blood dance along; 
She'll garland hill and dale and plain, 
And make this old world young again. 



71 



Love smiles on me joyously 411 the day long, 
And Hope ever sings a melodious song. 
I'm rich in a happy and peaceable mind, 
A soul whose pulse beats for the bliss of mankind. 
I'm rich in a love of the good and the true; 
Such riches bring pleasures and bliss ever new; 
I'm rich in the hope of an endless delight. 
Where sin cannot enter, nor sorrow nor night; 
Where paltry gold wins not a soul from its truth, 
But goodness lives ever in beautiful j^outh; 
There God has provided an infinite store, 
And riches untold shall be mine evermore. 



THE SONO OF BEAUTY. 



There 's Beauty in the rolling stream, as dancing on its way, 
The blue-bells and the violets drink vigor from its spray; 
The green trees greet it with a smile, the birds sing to its 

praise, 
While sweetest echoes roll along its banks their joj^ous lays. 
There 's Beauty in the rolling stream, Beauty all around; 
You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 



72 



The gorgeous hues that deck the sky, the rainbow's beaute- 
ous arch, 

The golden, fleecy clouds above, forever en the march. 

The jewell'd stars, those eyes of night, what beauty in their 
glance. 

As leads the moon the fair ones out to join the nightly 
dance. 

Inhere 's Beauty in the azure sky, Beauty all around; 

You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 

The dimpled waves in merry chase, along the briny shore, 

What beauteous shells they scatter on the blue sea's sandy 
floor; 

What beauty in the coral caves, where mermaids dwell be- 
low. 

And bright pearls gleam, those ocean stars, with everlasting 
glow. 

There's Beauty in the sounding sea, Beauty all around; 

You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 

How lovely is the mountain cot, for Beauty's home is there, 
The stream, the meadow and the wood combine to make it 

fair; 
' T is garlanded with roses round, and smiling children play, 
And chase the bees and butterflies, throughout the summer 

day. 
There 's Beauty in the lowly cot. Beauty all around; 
You cannot wander anywhere, where Beauty is not found. 



BEAUTY'S D^VELLING PLACE* 



I dwell in the regions of ice and snow, 
Where winds in continual tempests blow; 
Where terrible icebergs uprear their form, 
As monuments proud of the Frost and Storm; 
They pile to the heavens the em'rald towers. 
And finish their halls in the long night hours. 

I dwell in the South in a bow'r of bloom, 
AVhere orange and pomegranate breathe perfume; 
Where silvery streams o'er the golden sand, 
Run down to their ocean home hand in hand; 
Through ever-green arbors the bright birds fly, 
And Winter dirturbs not the calm blue sky. 

My home is a cave in the crystalline deep, 

Where wild waves its portals with vigilance keep; 

There mermaids attend to my every call. 

And weave for the sea-boy a fun'ral pall; 

They watch by his grave, where the tree-corals grow, 

And pearls light his tomb with their radiant glow. 



74 



I dwell in the sky, when the young beams of morn, 

The cloudlets in manifold colors adorn; 

I wander with them in their glorious march, 

The rainbows above us triumphantly arch; 

At even, I shine in the radiant star, 

That tells to the earth of a bright realm fifar. 

1 dwell in the sun, bright dispenser of light; 
The monarch of day, and the conq'ror of night; 
That wakens the drowsy old earth from his sleep, 
And calms, with its smiling, the turbulent deep; 
M'lie moon's silver beam, as it sheds a sweet ray, 
Upon the old time-eaten turrets so gray. 

I robe all the trees in their foliage green. 
And give to the silvery waters their sheen; 
Bestow on the flowers of summer their hue. 
The red of the rose, and the vi'lets deep blue; 
I festoon the path of the wandering poor. 
And llow'r garlands fling o'er the cottager's door. 

In forest or field, in the sea or in aii-, 
"Wherever you wander, you'll still iind me there; 
My smile's in the dew-drop, my glance in the gem, 
Adorning with brightness the fair diadem. 
There 's nothing on earth, that is lovely and fair. 
Unformed by my skill, or unwatched by my care. 



75 



THE SEASONvS. 

Spring came, a maiden young and fair, 
Unbound to the winds her silken hair; 
Her kyrtle, green, was trimmed with blue, 
Her footstep, hght as falling dew. 

'Twas morning; on yon distant hill 
She stood one moment, all was still, 
Then sang so sweet an anthem there, 
That heaven seemed to fill the air, 
And flowers, buried in the ground, 
Woke up to hear the joyous sound; 
While young buds startled, with surprise 
Opened in haste their wond'ring eyes; 
And list'ning birds, in grove and glen, 
Repeated that sweet strain again. 
Her breath was fragrance on the air, 
That floated down the valley fair, 
Distilling in each tiny cup, 
By ev'ry infant flow'r held up; 
Whence bees, Who know the honey bells, 
Transferred its sweetness to their cells. 



76 



What joy was there along her route ! 
The old woods hung their banners out, 
And by her side, with tinkling feet, 
The young rills danced to music sweet, 
While spreading from her steps was seen, 
A living carpet, cm'rald green, 
A path for Summer's gorgeous queen. 

Within a chariot of light. 

Whose winged steeds out-rode the night, 

Thus, driving o'er her wide domain, 

The goddess came with royal train. 

A velvet robs of varied hue. 

Around her lovely form she drew. 

Its colors brighter than the skies. 

Enriched by glowing sunset dyes; 

Her brow, by Beauty's own hand graced, 

A diadem of stars embraced, 

AVhose rays, swift heralds, went before. 

Proclaiming her to ev'ry shore. 

*' She comes ! she conies, with open hand. 

To scatter blessings on your land." 

Then, by her maids of royal birth. 

She gave her largess to the Earth. 

They wove for man the fragrant bow'rs, 

Those calm retreats in sunny hours, 



11 



Where liquid waves of music roll, 
To lift the sinking human soul; 
Then, in the city, dark and dim, 
With sweetest voices, called to him. 
Their laughter swept the orchard through, 
The blossoms fell, the apples grew, 
The cherries blushed, and, from their bedSj 
The scarlet berries raised their heads; 
And, o'er the fields of paly gold, 
The mimic waves in beauty rolled. 
They banished sorrow, pain and sighs, 
They called down beauty from the skies, 
And hand in hand, with her they played, 
Through flow'ry nook and bow'ry shade, 
Nor thought of else till Autumn came; 
A staid, demure and thougtful dame. 
Her damsels on their shoulders bear. 
The downy peach, the juicy pear, 
And purple grape, the fruit divine, 
W^hose flasks contain the purest wine. 
The golden grain, in drooping sheaves. 
They bore beneath the farmer's eaves; 
Within his mines laid up a store 
Of daily hfe's most needed ore. 
They set the verdant woods aflame; 
Each tree a burning bush became; 



78 



While sang the winds, with solemn sound, 
''Take offth}^ shoes, 'tis holy ground." 

But Autumn fled when from the North 

Came Winter's stormy mandate forth; 

His icy sceptre, held on high, 

Is felt and feared by earth and sky. 

His word is law and, at his will, 

The world's wild pulse is standing still. 

A thousand dashing streamlets hear, 

They stop, and hold their breath for fear; 

From spreading clouds the white leaves fall. 

With crystal foliage cover all. 

And swiftly wrap, from head to feet, 

The dead earth in her winding sheet. 

As through the wood it^ echoes ring, 

The trembling birds forget to sing; 

And man, the lord of all, turns pale, 

When Winter's voice comes on the gale. 

But Spring is hastening on apace, 
She'll take old hoary Winter's place; 
She'll cheer the earth with light and song, 
And make her life's blood dance along; 
She'll garland hill and dale and plain, 
And make this old world young again. 



79 



FUTURE LIFE. 

Shall trees live for ages, and garnish the ground, 
In greenness and beauty and gladness abound ? 
Shall they enjoy life for a thousand long years, 
Unburdened with sorrows, untroubled by fears ? 
And yet man, the noblest of earth, sea and skies. 
The upright, the thoughtful, the Grod-like and wise, 
Shall he, like a flower, but live for a day. 
Unfold, like a rose, and then wither away ? 
Or dance, like a bubble, awhile on the wave. 
Look joyous a moment, then sink in the grave ? 
Oh no, for Eternity calls him her son; 
His circuit of glory he ever shall run; 
The heavens present him their infinite store, 
The years of the Highest are his evermore. 
Eeleased from the clay, the immortal shall rise, 
Till Earth floats beneath him, a speck in the skies; 
The bright stars of even shall golden steps be, 
And he shall ascend to the realms of the free. 



ai 



80 



HOPE FOR ALL, 

Through all the varied path we tread, 
Are green and fragrant fields; 

And not a daisy rears its head, 

But some sweet comfort yields. 

The grass is green above the graves, 
And starred with shining flowers; 

The ivy on the ruin waves, 

And hides the crumbling towers. 

To rugged rocks and jagged bark, 
The modest lichen chngs; 

And in the forest, drear and dark, 
The throstle gaily sings. 

The soothing hand of friendship tends 
The suff'rer's parting hours; 

And with the saddest lot, their blends 
Some choicest, sweetest flowers. 

There is no bitter cup, unmixed, 
That man is doomed to drink; 

There is no pit in which he's fixed 
Eternally to sink. 



81 



The darkest pit contains some light, 
Some bright and cheering ray, 

A hope, that in the black' ning night, 
StiU whispers of the day. 

Within a paradise we live, 

How happy should we be ! 

If not, the fault to man we give, 
And not, God ! to thee. 



A HYMN. 

''Lord how delightful 'tis to see, 
The whole creation worship thee; ' 
When upward, on the morning breeze. 
Sweet praise is borne from fields and trees. 

Voices of angels from above, 
Chanting their holiest hymns of love, 
Could not supremer praises give 
Than this fair earth, on which we live. 

Our tuneful voices then we'll raise. 
And swell the anthem to his praise, 
From whom all blessings have their birth, 
Who made our home this joyous earth. 



82 



A DREAM. 

I stood upon a sandy sea — 

A boundless ocean dry; 
No tree, no leaf, no blade of grass 

Was there, to meet the ey«. 

But bleachmg bones lay scattered round, 
That told of fearful death; 

While ever blew the hot simoon, 
With life-destroying breath. 

I cast my eyes around, good God ! 

A trav'ller on the waste ! 
Across the arid desert, he 

Strode on with fearful haste. 

His swarthy brow, and furrowed cheek, 

His countenance forlorn 
And tell-tale eye, disclosed to me 

Some deed of sufif'ring borne. 

Weakness itself, his body seemed, 

Yet upborne b}^ the soul, 
That urged him on, with rapid steps, 

To reach the destined goal. 



88 



The hot sun shed its burning rays, 
Straight down upon his head; 

And as I marked his fevered lips, 
My spirit inly bled. 

He sees a flowing crystal stream, 
A palm-trees grateful shade ! 

And on he runs with eager steps: 
It was the mirage played. 

His spirit drooped, his whole frame shook, 

His manly eye grew dim; 
Nor strength, nor motion seemed there left 

In head, or heart or limb. 

'Twas then I saw an angel form 

Approach the pilgrim sad; 
"To succor him, she doubtless comes," 

I said, and I was glad. 

She held, within her lily hand, 

A goblet, fair and bright; 
Pure, sparkling water kissed its rim, 

And flashed in heaven's own light. 



84 



God ! can demon be so vile ? 

Pity in vain implores; 
She halts, and, in the goblet bright, 
A deadly potion pours. 

She comes ! he sees her, and new life 

Bounds through his throbbing veins; 

Joy lights his eye, grief flees away, 
And all his former pains. 

He grasps the goblet with both hands ! 

I felt my blood run chill; 
He knows the cup is poisoned,yet 

With greed, he drinks his fill. 

1 could endure the sight no more, 

INIy brain swam, and I fell, 
And waking found that I had been 
Under a magic spell; 

The roving fancies of my brain, 

In sleep so wild and free. 
Had conjured up the fearful dream, 

I thus relate to thee. 



85 



TO THE SUN. 



Eoll on, bright orb of day ! 
I would not for a moment stay, 
Nor selfishly keep back thy cheerful ray, 
But rather speed thee on thy journey far away. 

Thine is a joyful round, 
Gladd'ning all hearts where man is found, 
Dispensing light and glory all around, 
And making deserts drear with plenty to abound. 

Then go, by Mercy sped, ' 

And shine on all by Mercy fed; 
On youth's bright locks and age's hoary head, 
On saint and sinner be thy golden blessings shed. 

Teach them to copy thee; 
With "good to all," their motto free. 
While looking on thy smiling face, they see 
That thy Creator wills, all men should happy be. 



86 



WILLIAM AND MARY, 

My Mary will you go with me, 

In foreign lands to roam; 
And leave your bonny mountain cot, 

And leave your Highland home; 
Your father, old and gray,Mary, 

Your mother leave for me, 
And with your William wander off 

Across the stormy sea ? 

The cozy &e-side will you leave, 

So pleasant and so warm, 
Where loving hearts have nestled down 

In many a winter's storm; 
Where tales of olden time go round, 

With mirth, and song, and glee; 
Oh ! can you leave it my sweet love, 

And go along with me ? 

The old church bells will sweetly ring. 
Their voice you will not hear; 

And bonny birds will blithely sing, 
But you wiU not be near; 

The heather on the hills will bloom, 
Its fragrance scent the lea, 



87 



The meadow will be spangled o'er, 
You'll not be here to see. 

Oh ! now my William say no more; 

Whatever may betide, 
There is no blast, the world can blow, 

Shall move me from your side. 
My father and my mother too, 

I'll leave to God above; 
He never can be grieved with me, 

For God himself is love. 

And we will make our ingle warm, 

When far across the sea; 
And Love and Joy will fold their wings. 

And dwell w^ith you and me; 
Your voice shall be my music then, 

Far sweeter it will be, 
Than merry bells, and singing birds, 

With all their melody. 

God's sun shines bright on ev'ry land, 

His stars light ev'ry sky; 
And love can make a desert look 

A garden to the eye. 
Then farewell to my mountain cot, 

I'll go with you to roam; 
So ye do love me William, 

Where you are is my home. 



88 



THE MAIDEN'S CURSE. 



"Earth has no rage like love to hatred turned, 
And hell no fury like a woman scorned." 



I wake to the truth, my life's vision is past; 

He 's basely deceived me, I know it at last; 

I trembled, I doubted, I hoped, it is o'er; 

The wretch now derides me, I ask for no more; 

The best gift of heaven he tramples to scorn, 

And leaves me bereft of all hope and forlorn. 

I looked on him once as an angel of light; 

Each smile of his face made me thrill with delight; 

The tone of his voice, as we sat 'neath the tree. 

Was sweet as the music of angels to me. 

I loved him as woman can only once love; 

He vowed that he loved me all others above; 

I trusted my all on a calm, sunny sea, 

A wreck he has left me forever to be. 

I loved him, but love is tronsformed into hate; 

I'd as soon see a demon as him at the gate, 

I'd rather a serpent enfold me than he; 

Base traitor, deceiver, no worse wretch can be. 

I hate him, my curse on his head where he goes; 

May fiends be his friends, and his dearesi friends foes; 



89 



May love never bless him, nor goodness, nor truth; 
The cold frost of age ,nip the bud of his youth; 
0, bitter be poverty's blast that he feels, 
The spectre of want ever tread on his heels; 
May ev'ry sweet sound on his vile ear grate, 
And love, e'er he feel it, be frozen to hate; 
His visions, in slumber, be ghosts of the past. 
And ev'ry foul spectre a worse than the last; 
The prince of deceivers, the vilest of men. 
May woman's sweet smile never bless him again; 
May o'er him the billows of woe ever roll. 
And lightnings of wrath scathe his villanous soul. 



90 



STARRY HOUR." 

I dreamt that I saw thy sweet face, love, 

The smile that is evermore there; 
Where thou art is beauty and grace, love, 

And all that is pleasant and fair; 
I dreamt that I heard thy sweet voice, love, 

As echoes of music afar; 
I woke, 'twas my dearest, my choice, love; 

The music, his dulcet guitar. 

We '11 wait not for morning to dawn, love, 
By moonlight our meeting shall be; 

One moment, and then on the. lawn, love, 
I '11 give a sweet welcome to thee. 

We'll meet, and our hearts shall rejoice, love, 
We '11 wander together afar, 

1 '11 list to the tones of thy voice, love. 

More sweet than the dulcet guitar. 



91 



TO E. M. F. 



Bright as even's changeless fires, 
Shine thy lustrous eyes on me; 

Sweet as heaven's tuneful lyres, 
Sounds thy voice of melody. 

Ev'ry look is light and love; 

Ev'ry sound, a song divine; 
As if thou hadst, when above, 

Made an angel's graces thine. 

Short the time is since we met, 

Yet each moment seems a year; 

All with budding springs are set, 
Sunny, radiant, warm and clear. 

At thy touch my soul is thrilled 

As it never was before; 
By thy smile my cup is filled, 

Filled with pleasure — running o'er. 

Beam upon me sunny maiden; 

Banish clouds of doubt and fear; 

TiU with joy my soul is laden. 

Laden through Love's circling year. 



92 



TO HANNAH C. 



If I were a poet, I 'd sing thee a song 
Would enchant ev'iy listening ear, 

in tones so mellifluous, seraphs should furl 
Their pinions its echoes to hear. 

If rieh, I'd present thee the choicest of gifts 
That all Nature and Art can combine; 

That Beauty can fashion and Talent produce, 
Dear Hannah, should ever be thine. 

If I were a sailor, I'd bring thee bright pearls, 
From the depths of the billowy sea; 

And shells, with the hues of the rainbow endyed, 
I'd give, as a present, to thee. 

If I were an artist, I'd paint thee a sketch. 

Would enrapture thy soul to behold; 
Or form thee a statue, so breathing with life. 
That love in her arms might enfold. 

A fairy, I'd grant ev'ry wish of thy soul; 

Not a thought should unsatisfied be; 
But as I 'm a rhymer, I weave a few lines,/ 

And offer a tribute to thee. 



93 



LINES TO LIZZY. 

The katy-dids are chanting, 

From the fulness of their souls; 

The stars above are shining 
On this planet as it rolls. 

There is beauty in the sky, 

There is music on the earth; 

And sweetest thoughts ar e springing, 
Like the May buds into birth. 

There 's a halo round the moon. 
And a veil before her face; 

She's peeping archly through it, 

AVith a sweet, bewitching grace; 

And as I stand and watch her. 

Through the branches bending nigh, 

How strongly she reminds me 
Of the moony nights gone by. 

The nights when thee and I, love, 
From the city's smoke and din. 

In grassy valleys wandered, 

And the heavens shut us in. 



H 



Of hills o'er which we rambled, 
When the day was in its grave^ 

And sleepy flowers saw not 

All the kisses that we gave. 

The happy scenes she causes 
My memory to unfold, 

Are far dearer to my soul 
Than an argosy of gold. 



LABOR. 

Labor, said the little ant, 
Laying up for time of want; 
Labor, said the busy bee 
Thou wilt find it best for thee; 
Labor, said the little rill, 
As it ran to turn the mill; 
Labor, said the falling showers, 
As they came to bless the flowers; 
Labor sang the birds to me. 
Building in the budding tree; 
Labor, chanted all around; 
Up, betimes, and till the ground; 
Labor, hands, and head, and feet; 
Earn the bread you daily eat. 



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WINTER. 

Cold winter is here, and blows with a whiz; 
The mercury's fell, and fuel is riz; 
The river is still, the hydrant is friz, 
And ev'ry man wears a most comical phiz. 

Dead in the garden are all the sweet roses; 
Blue, as a whetstone, are all the red noses; 
While every thing gTeen assuredly froze is. 
As stiff as the clods on the body of Moses. 

Art furnishes flowers, though nature is froze in; 
Grog-shops are gardens with blossoms, by rows, in; 
Where watered by villanous whiskey that flows in. 
Each fool must soon gather a harvest of woes in. 

Eich people snug in warm bed-rooms are lying; 

Poor people up in cold garrets are dying; 

Shivering children are moaning and crying. 

While bleak winds around them are mournfully sighing. 

Then think of the poor, ye wealthy flint-skinners, 
Who, in the great "grab game," have made yourselves 

winners. 
While eating with relish your smoking hot dinners, 
Remember, in mercy, your poor fellow sinners. 



96 



THE SPRING DAY. 

Hurrah, boys ! hurrah ! for old Winter has fled; 
The slayer of thousands himself is now dead; 
Spring came, like an angel, and breathed on our coast; 
The tyrant immediately gave up the ghost. 
The flowers are peeping with half open eyes; 
The sunshine is waking the slumbering flies; 
The swallow is out on his wandering wing, 
And blithely the birds in the cedar tree sing; 
The butterfly tries its new wings in the beam, 
And spotted fish leap in the silvery stream; 
All nature rejoices, boys, why should not we ? 
Hurrah for the sunshine upon the green tree ! 

Hurrah for the woods ! they are leafy and green, 
Except where the flame of the red bud is seen; 
The spring-beauty spangles the moss covered ground; 
And vi'lets and crowfoots are smiUng all round; 
The breath of the soft wind is fragrant with flowers, 
And beauty is weaving her green summer bowers; 
Then out let us go, where the bright waters gleam, 
Asleep on their bosom the shady trees seem. 
The sunbeams keep watch as they peep through the 

leaves, 
And Spring for the joys of the past never grieves; 
All nature is gladsome, rejoicing and gay. 
Hurrah, boys ! hurrah ! for the sunny Spring Day. 



97 



CAZAN AND THE COLLIER. 

A Methodist preacher called Cazan, I knew; 
One of the old school, unbending and true; 
A mighty revivaUst, knew how to dwell 
On torments the wicked must suffer in hell; 
Could picture the ocean of brimstone and fire, 
Where souls die forever, yet never expire, 
Till sinners would see the blue flames lurid glare. 
And shudder to hear the mad yells of despair. 

One morning he went an appointment to fill, 

Equipped like a soldier, the arch foe to kill; 

His heart full of zeal, as he sped on his way, 

Beseeching that sin might be routed that day, 

A man on the wide, open fell he espied; 

"That man may be lost, if I haste not;" he cried. 

The man was a collier returning from work; 

A pipe in his mouth, he looked grim as a Turk; 

No matter to Cazan, who never looked back, 

And feared not the devil himself to attack. 

"Good morning," quoth he, then "Good morn" said the 

man; 
Without farther preface old Cazan began, 



98 



"Do you ever pray ?" he seemed taken aback, 
And giving a glance at the parson in black, 
"I reckon I dont, for I leave that to fools, 
Who do nothing else but 'tend meetings and schools; 
I have to work hard for my bread c\'iy day; 
How can I find time, then, to gabble and pray ? " 
"A hard case is this, I must try a new plan, " 
Thought Cazan, and so he turned round to the man, 
"This half-crown, my man, to you freely I'll give. 
To promise me never to pray while you live," 
"I '11 promise you that in a giffy," said he, 
"So hand the half-crown, mister, over to me; 
'T will buy me some whiskey, tobacco, and tea. 
More comfort than ten thousand prayings would be." 
He gave him the money, and went on his way, 
The sinners of Gateshead to waken that day. 

The collier soon came to his snug dwelling-place; 

He entered the house with a smile on his face; 

His wife, a good woman, was making the tea; 

"Oh, Sally, mylassy, what thinks thou?" said he; 

"A man overtook me in crossing the moor, 

A singular fellow he must be, I'm sure. 

This half-crown he gave me, a fool I must say. 

To make him a promise I never would pray." 

"What ! promise you never would pray ?" said his wife, 

The worst promise that John, you've made in your life; 



99 



Pray, what did he look like, and how was he dressd ? 
I doubt your companion was none of the best." 
"I noticed his clothes of an old fashioned cut. 
And all of them black, from the head to the foot." 
''AH black !" she exclaimed, "Lord preserve us from evil, 
The person you met with was surely the devil; 
He gave you the money your poor soul to buy, 
No doubt he will come for you, John, by and by." 
For once in his life, John was troubled in mind; 
To serious thought he felt deeply inclined ; 
He'd dreadful forebodings of terrible pain, 
And wished he could give the half-crown back again; 
He lay down, but sleep to his soul brought no rest; 
He saw himself shut from the home of the blest; 
Hell's wide mouth was open, the stranger was there ! 
He yelled in the anguish of utter despair; 
The bribe he 'd accepted a monster became, 
'T was dragging him down to the regions of flame 
AVhile devils cried out, as it hurried him down, 
"This man sold his soul for a paltry half-crown." 
"0 save me," he cried with most terrible might; 
"God save me," he shouted, and woke with affright; 
And thus the poor sinner, ere he was aware, 
Had broken his promise, and uttered a prayer. 
Henceforth, till his soul had declared for the Eight. 
No peace came with day, and no rest with the night; 



100 



Until, truly saved from the foul hellish snare, 
At morning and ev'ning he offered his prayer. 
He joined with the Methodists — entered the fold; 
In God's cause, henceforth, became zealous and bold, 
And oft in the class or at love-feast would tell 
The strange way his soul was delivered from hell. 

Some time after this, Cazan happened one day 

To visit a love-feast that came in his way; 

The collier was there, and of course, without fail, 

He told to the people his singular tale. 

Of him, all in black, that he met on the fell, 

AVho could be none else than the sergeant of hell; 

Enlisting recruits for the army of woe. 

Whose wages are burnings in brimstone below; 

Then stating his present condition awhile. 

He ended, and Cazan arose with a smile; 

"To God be the glory," he said "evermore; 

I shot that bird, as I passed o'er the moor. 

In order to serve the black devil a trick, 

For once I was willing to pass for "Old Xick." 

Then praise Him who put the good thought in my mind; 

The Father of all, who is gracious and kind; 

And pray all the subjects of Satan may be, 

Like this man, enlightened, and happy, and free." 

Though Cazan has passed as a shadow away, 

His memory lives with the colliers to-day. 



101 



SUNDAY SABBATH. 



'Tis Sunday ! but the morn peeps out; 
The breezes play the woods about; 
The wild birds sing their gayest song, 
And echoes sweet the notes prolong; 
Wide fly the blazing gates of day, 
And Sol rolls on his sunny way. 
The trees are weaving summer bow'rs; 
The bees are kissing maiden flow'rs; 
Young streams are dancing, wild and free, 
And linking hands to meet the sea; 
The spider spins his silky line; 
The vines around the old oak tvsrine. 
Up ! idlers up ! the world 's at work, 
Kor meanly thus your duty shirk; 
Your preachers lead your souls astray, 
For Nature knows no Sabbath day. 

Maiden, raise thy merry song ! 
Ploughman, drive thy team along ! 
Blacksmith, let thine anvil sing ! 
Woodman, make the forest ring ! 
Sailor, spread the snow-white sail, 
No Sabbath knows the flying gale ! 



102 



City toiler, full of care, 
Out, and breathe the balmy air; 
Leave the haunted, Gothic pile; 
Leave the dim cathedral aisle. 
Where hooded Superstition walks. 
And Bigotry, the murd'rer, stalks. 

Out, and bathe thy dusty feet 
In the meadow, cool and sweet 
Where the trees, in solemn bands, 
Raise to heav'n their spreading hands; 
Where joyous birds, God's heralds free, 
Shall preach his gospel unto thee. 



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